Chiney Ogwumike has been down the road that Breanna Stewart is about to embark on.

Back in mid December, 2013 the Connecticut Sun won the WNBA Draft lottery and it was a foregone conclusion that the Sun would be selecting the Stanford All-American with the top pick in the 2014 WNBA Draft.

In a week and a half the most recent lottery will be conducted at ESPN with the winner almost certainly will make Stewart the fifth UConn product (joining Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi, Tina Charles and Maya Moore) to be taken first overall. Yet, Stewart has an entire season left to play at UConn as she attempts to lead the Huskies to an unprecedented fourth consecutive national title.

Whether Seattle, San Antonio, Connecticut or Atlanta gets the No. 1 pick, her WNBA home will be a popular topic in the interview sessions with the media. I caught up with Ogwumike before yesterday's Connecticut season finale and asked her what advice she would give to Stewart.

"I think she should just enjoy the moment," Ogwumike said. "Senior year is the best year because you know all your academic work, just stay in control of that. Just enjoy your coach, your teammates, your friends, your family and let everything be a memory, every game being something you hold in the back of your mind. College is different from the pros, that camaraderie, loyalty you have with each other, it is different when you get to the next level. She knows who she is and just embrace that, there's a lot of pressure and expectation but she has already put herself in position to be great with her life so she should be herself and enjoy the moment."

Ogwumike believes Stewart, who she has gotten to know through USA Basketball circles, is well suited to deal with the extra attention.

"Obviously somebody is handling it for her, (UConn women's basketball coach) Geno (Auriemma), so just enjoy it," Ogwumike said. "If she is enjoying it and having fun, she is going to play amazing. It's going to be amzing, you will have her coming into the WNBA, you will have Diana (Taurasi) back, Skylar (Diggins) back so there will be a lot of talk, it will be some exciting times."
Ogwumike will welcome any of the Sun's draft picks to the team but she admits that bringing in somebody like Stewart would make for a magical environment at Mohegan Sun Arena.

"She is a remarkable talent, she is a chill, cool person and my whole thing, playing with her would be cool because of what it would do for this, this place (Mohegan Sun Arena) would be on fire," Ogwumike said. "At the same time, I know UConn players and Connecticut have a different history so I want what's best for her but at the same time, I am selfish and this place would be on fire. It would be really exciting."

The lottery will be held on Sept. 24. Seattle and San Antonio met last night with the loser of that game earning the best odds of getting the top pick. San Antonio on 59-58 so Seattle has a 44.2 percent chance of getting the No. 1 pick, San Antonio (26.6 percent), Connecticut (17.8) and Atlanta (10.4) are the other teams with a shot at landing Stewart.

STOKES IN SELECT COMPANY
With the regular season now in the books, I figured I would check in and see where Kiah Stokes' numbers stacked up.

Well, Stokes averaged 10.2 rebounds and 3.1 blocked shots per 40 minutes. She is the first rookie to average at least 10 rebounds and 3 blocks per 40 minutes since LaToya Sanders put up marks of 10.8 rebounds and 4.7 blocked shots per 40 minutes with Phoenix in 2008.

Bill Laimbeer doesn't usually struggle to get his message across so when he met with Kiah Stokes for the first time during the New York Liberty's training camp, he made it clear that the days of Stokes deferring to her teammates were about to come to an end.

Stokes displayed the ability to rebound and block shots and was a willing screener in her four years at UConn. What she didn't do much of was look for her own offense. Knowing that playing 4 on 5 at the WNBA level simply doesn't work, Laimbeer made it clear to Stokes that she needed to look for her own shot.

"We are forcing the situation on her because she is one of our better shooters so we want her to be aggressive offensively especially in the preseason," Laimbeer said. "She has to learn that she can do it and we are counting on her to do it. Every time she doesn't shoot, we remind her 'hey, that is a good shot for you.' She has to learn to expect the ball and be ready to shoot. She understands what we are asking of her. She is a very smart player, you don't have to tell her twice. Recognition of where she is going to be open and prepare herself to shoot, that is a work in progress."

Stokes attempted 14 shots in the Liberty's first preseason game which is more shots than she attempted in any game during her college career.

"Some of the shots weren't particularly good so I have to work on that but Coach Laimbeer told me he wants me to be more of a scorer," Stokes said before Wednesday's preseason game against Atlanta. "He said it to my face which is something I haven't necessarily heard that many times at UConn but it is something I have to get used to doing. He has a lot of confidence in me which is great.

"He said you have to get the mentality of trying to score more, you can't be just a screener and rebounder so it is going to take some time. Two weeks separated from UConn so it is going to be somewhat of a struggle at first but I think once I get the mindset, it is going to come."

Stokes has the advantage of being coached by Laimbeer and Herb Williams, a pair of former NBA post players who combined to average more than 10 points per game 19 times in 31 NBA seasons.

"They have a lot of faith in me, there will times I pass up a shot at practice and there will be times I have Herb and Coach Laimbeer say 'shoot the ball, look to shoot,'" Stokes said. "They are constantly reminding me to be more of a scorer. I didn't have to at UConn but now they are saying we want you to be one of the main scorers which is exciting and nerve wracking.

"I think he (Williams) was surprised because we had a shootaround in practice and I was working out with Herb and he said 'I didn't know you could shoot.' I think that kind of opened his eyes."

With 3-point range on her jump and a low-post game, why didn't score average more than 5 points per game in any of her four seasons at UConn?

"At UConn I didn't need to score, you had Stewie, Kaleena, Morgan, Moriah and everybody could shoot the ball really well so I didn't have to," Stokes said. "Of course Coach Auriemma would have loved me to be more offensive minded so I kind of got my role where I didn't have to, let's make sure I block shots and rebounds and that was kind of my mindset. He said 'no, now we want you to be that kind of player."

Here is the story on Stokes which ran in yesterday's paper

There was a fairly good chance that Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Kiah Stokes would be teaming up with at least one former UConn stars considering the large number of former Huskies playing in the WNBA.

Now that the dust has cleared, the two soon to be graduated seniors might have found the perfect mentors to aid their transition from college to professional basketball.

Mosqueda-Lewis, the NCAA Division I women's basketball all-time leading 3-point shooter, will get to play alongside of future Hall of Fame point guard Sue Bird in Seattle while shot-blocking dynamo Kiah Stokes will be teamed up in New York with Tina Charles, the all-time leading rebounder in UConn history.

"I am excited to learn from one of the best point guards to ever play," Mosqueda-Lewis said shortly after going No. 3 overall.

Sue Bird has been to some practices during Mosqueda-Lewis' four seasons and she was the color commentator on the ESPN2 broadcast when UConn hosted South Florida so there is already some familiarity between the two.

When she was in Storrs she spoke to a couple of us and of course the possibility of Mosqueda-Lewis joining the Storm was a popular topic of conversation as a potential No. 1 overall pick. As it turned out, early entrants Jewell Loyd and Amanda Zahui B. went No. 1 and 2 with Loyd set to join Mosqueda-Lewis in Seattle.

"When Seattle got the No. 1 pick, shortly thereafter Kaleena played in that Stanford game and a lot of people had a lot of opinions based on that one game and truthfully I didn't think that was fair," Bird said. "I get it, people say big players play well in big games and I get it but one game doesn't define you. With that being said, it is no secret that this draft isn't as strong as previous ones so it tough for a kid like Kaleena who in my opinion is the best player in the class and she is going to get compared to other No. 1 picks where maybe she isn't as talented as those players but that is just the way it is. I think people will try to compare her to past guards who have been picked high and she is going to be compared to them. Is that fair? No.  You put her in last year's draft, she goes five or six and that team is thrilled to have her. If she does go to Seattle and that is who they decide to pick, we will just as thrilled as any other team to have her and she can complement a team, bring things to a team that you probably haven't even seen here in Connecticut because she hasn't had to do it. For her that will be a challenge."

Mosqueda-Lewis' 3-point prowess has been her "get out of jail free card" when she struggled in other areas of her game according to UConn coach Geno Auriemma. While Mosqueda-Lewis is a proven offensive commodity who will need to prove herself on defense, the opposite is true for Stokes.

Stokes set UConn's single-season record with 147 blocked shots and it's hard to forget her 18-rebound performance at Notre Dame. She has not always been a player looking for her own offense. Playing alongside Charles, one of the most talented offensive post players in the world, is something that could help in her development.

"I met her on my (recruiting) visits," Stokes said of Charles. "I don't talk to her that much so I am excited to get to learn from her and get better. She is a great player and I want to follow in her footsteps."

Malina Howard had just picked up her first foul and fellow Maryland starting post Brionna Jones already had two fouls when Geno Auriemma decided to up the ante a little bit.

Auriemma summoned senior Kiah Stokes off the bench to replace Kia Nurse with 10:36 left in the first half and the Huskies leading 22-16. Chloe Pavlech hit a 3-pointer to pull Maryland within three before the Huskies went on a 12-2 run. Maryland would not get closer than six points the rest of the way.

"It wasn't a surprise that he put me in," Stokes said. "Every time I am going in, I have to make sure I am doing my part, blocking shots, rebounding and doing anything else that helps the team. Playing with a big lineup, I think it gives Morgan (Tuck) and Stewie (Breanna Stewart) a really good opportunity to play on the perimeter. If I am occupying the biggest defender it makes it easier for them to a little easier to get in the paint and get to the basket that way."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma credited having Stokes in the game for opening up room for Stewart and Tuck to operate.

"We were trying to figure out what gave us the best opportunity to guard them," Auriemma said. "We knew we were going to have a problem in man to man, we made a decision to go zone and that is Kiah so when Kiah comes in we can play a little bit of zone, go man to man a little bit, make it look a little bit different that is looks otherwise. She gives us a big presence in the middle, we are not very big so having Kiah in there, it just frees up Stewie and Tuck to move around on the perimeter a little bit where I thought their guys would have a hard time guarding us.

"They were clogging up the lane pretty much. It is almost like they made two decisions, we are going to guard K (Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis) really hard and we are going to keep everybody else in the lane try to bottle all those other guys up. I have said this all along, when Kiah is good, she is really good and she was really good."
Stokes finished with six points, six rebounds, one assist and two blocked shots in 18 minutes. Stokes now has 38 career blocks in NCAA tournament play which ties her with Rebecca Lobo for 11th on the all-time list.

"When Kiah cam in she had a big (impact), just her effort with her rebounds and blocks, you could tell that she was helping change the momentum of the game," Stewart said. "When we got to our big lineup, it is not easy to match up with us."

Stewart is one of the players ahead of Stokes on the career blocks list. She had four giving her 48 which is fifth on the career list and two behind former Husky Stefanie Dolson for the No. 4 spot.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson combined for 42 points
as UConn pulled away for 91-55 victory over Rutgers on Monday night

Often times it looks all so routine.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis starts hitting 3-pointers from seemingly everywhere, Morgan Tuck and Breanna Stewart take turns setting up the other for layups while Moriah Jefferson and Kia Nurse attack the basket with controlled abandon.

However, Stewart was on the bench with two fouls, neither Mosqueda-Lewis nor Nurse were involved in the offense as the Huskies found themselves with few answers and a precarious five-point lead as the NCAA second-round game approached the midway point of the first half.

Rutgers coach C. Vivian Stringer is a Hall of Famer in large part due to being one of the top defensive minds in the history of women's college basketball and she was not about to make things easy for the Huskies.

For one of the few times this season, the Huskies seemed to be a bit rattled. Ill advised passes resulted in turnovers, poor shot selection contributed to some empty possessions. There wasn't much help coming from the bench either so for stretches it basically was Moriah Jefferson and Morgan Tuck playing 2 on 5 on the offensive end of the court.

What followed next was seeing players contribute in different ways.

It started with freshman Gabby Williams, a 44 percent free-throw shooter, going 3 of 4 from the foul line. Then Mosqueda-Lewis, who had fallen into her old habit of standing in one spot waiting to fire up a 3-pointer, began to move with purpose. She hit a jumper in the lane, added a rebound, assist and steal before capping an 11-0 run with a 3-pointer. Kiah Stokes ripped down offensive rebounds with authority and before long, the Huskies were well on their way to another convincing win.

"You never know when somebody is going to go down, either get hurt or get into foul trouble so you have to be ready to step up at any time," said UConn junior guard Moriah Jefferson, who had 19 points including the 1,000th of her career. "We needed (somebody) whether it was me or K (Mosqueda-Lewis) to step up and make the shots to get us into a rhythm and onto a
roll.
"I think games like this are really fun. When Stewie went out, I think a lot of people stepped up and that isn't even saying anything about Gabby, she was killing it. I am just excited for my team."
Williams had 11 points and 10 rebounds as she became the ninth UConn freshman to score in double figures in both the first and second round games. Stokes contributed more to the winning effort than her final line of four points, eight rebounds and two blocks would seem to indicate. Saniya Chong's stat line of two points, four rebounds and one turnover is not an indication of the impact she had. There was one flurry when Chong made the perfect defensive read to prevent a transition layup by Rutgers. Then UConn came down the court and Chong alertly vacated the area near Mosqueda-Lewis leading to one of her five 3-pointers.

"You have to be ready when you name is called," Stokes said. "You don't know when people are going to get into foul trouble like Stewie did. It is not a thing of hang your head because you're not starting or you are not the first one off the bench. When your name is called you have to be ready. I have taken that to heart. I have come in during certain games throughout my whole career and given the spark we needed. I know when my name is called I need to come in, block shots and
get rebounds. As long as I am doing that, I know I am doing my role."

Neither Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis or Kiah Stokes know what the future has in store for them but one thing they are certain of is that they won't play at Gampel Pavilion again after tonight's NCAA second-round game against Rutgers comes to an end.

I've always found the whole concept of the emotional Senior Day/Night festivities to be rather interesting because invariably there are still conference and NCAA tournament games to be played in Connecticut after they play their final regular-season game at Gampel. However, both Mosqueda-Lewis and Stokes admitted that going through the Senior Day festivities helped them deal with all of the emotions so they can focus fully on the survive and advance side of things once the NCAA tournament comes around.

"I am just thinking about the tournament and I am not thinking about it being my last game (in Connecticut)," Mosqueda-Lewis said. "I kind of got that out of my system after Senior Night.

"I think it does help you get it out of the way and lets you focus on what is really important."

Stokes had a similar take on things as she prepares to step onto Gampel Pavilion for the last time as a Husky.
"It is one of our last games," Stokes said. "It is not a sad time because you still have hopefully we have five more games left so we have to keep on pushing until then. It is not over until we play our last game and we are just trying to make sure that isn't our game (today) or the weekend after that.

"It will definitely be weird because I will be practicing on it for four years and now tomorrow is going to be our game at Gampel. It is definitely emotional but right now I am trying not to think about it like that. I am just trying to make sure it is a great game tomorrow."

Both players have a chance at some milestones tonight.

Stokes has a UConn single-season record 138 blocks and she is two away from becoming the 16th Division I women's player with 140 blocked shots in a season.

Mosqueda-Lewis is currently eighth on the NCAA Division I women's career list with 381 3-pointers. Next up will be former Louisville star Shoni Schimmel and former James Madison standout Dawn Evans, who are tied for sixth with 387 3s. She needs five points to become the 18th player with at least 300 career points in the NCAA Division I tournament and is currently tied for ninth on the career 3-point list in the NCAA tournament. She has 35, one behind Maryland grad Kristi Toliver and two behind former Huskies Bria Hartley and Renee Montgomery.

Last but certainly not least, today is the last day to vote for Stokes in the balloting for the Senior CLASS Award. Stokes leads the voting at 29.4 percent followed by Tennessee's Isabelle Harrison (17.4) and Iowa's Samantha Logic (13.6). The voting is just one of the criteria for selecting the Senior CLASS Award winner which goes to the player who is successful on the court, in the classroom and also is a positive contributor to the community.

While the American Athletic Conference is not releasing its major individual awards until tomorrow, that doesn't mean that UConn players had to wait until tomorrow's press conference to be recognized.

Junior guard Moriah Jefferson was named the AAC's Most Improved Player and was joined on the first team All-AAC by teammates Breanna Stewart, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Morgan Tuck. senior center Kiah Stokes was named the conference's defensive player of the year after blocking a conference-leading 86 shots which is more than eight of the other AAC teams had during the season.
Freshman forward Gabby Williams was one of two winners of the Sixth Player of the Year Award after leading the conference with a 61.8 field-goal percentage, finishing tied for sixth with an average of 7.5 rebounds per game and averaging 10.1 points per game during conference play. Williams was also named to the All-Freshman team. Tulsa junior guard Ashley Clark, who averaged 13.9 points and 7.3 rebounds in AAC play, shared the honor with Williams.
Temple senior guard Tyonna Williams was named the AAC's Sportsmanship Award winner while East Carolina's I'Tiana Taylor was selected as the Newcomer of the Year.
Jefferson led the conference with an average of 3 steals per game and was the conference lead with a 54.3 3-point percentage and a 3.6 assist/turnover ratio was one of four unanimous first-team All-AAC selections.
Stewart (17.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 2.8 blocked shots per game), Mosqueda-Lewis (14.2 points per game and a conference best 54 3-pointers) and South Florida's Courtney Williams, who led the conference with an average of 21.4 points per game, were also unanimous selections. Tuck and East Carolina's Jada Payne were also named to the first team.
Stokes was a second-team pick while UConn's Kia Nurse was a third-team All-AAC selection and joined Temple's Alliya Butts as the only unanimous selections to the All-Freshman team.
The conference's player of the year, coach of the year, freshman of the year and scholar-athlete of the year will be announced during a press conference at Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday at 2 p.m.

The CBS Sports Network coverage of tomorrow's regular season home finale against Memphis not starting until tip off because the broadcast of the men's game between Lehigh and Colgate runs right up to the 2 o'clock hour. As a result, they will not be televising the pre-game ceremony when seniors Kiah Stokes and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis will be honored and Mosqueda-Lewis' No. 23 gets inducted into the Huskies of Honor.

UConn announced that it will be offering a free live stream of the ceremony at this link http://www.uconnhuskies.com/collegesportslive/?media=489858 The event is set to start at 1:40 p.m.

\Also, thanks to my trusty iPhone, I will have videos up on my Tout account (available via my Twitter account @NHRJimFuller) as quickly as the internet inside Gampel Pavilion allows that to take place.

NO GOLDEN HORSHOE AWARD FOR KIA NURSE
Freshman guard Kia Nurse was nominated for Golden Horseshoe Award, presented annually since 1995 to the best athlete in the Burlington/Hamilton, Ontario area, for the second year in a row. However, Nurse's bid to become the first basketball player to win the honor since 2006 will have to wait.

Last year it was golfer Mackenzie Hughes who won the award while last night it was announced that the 2014 winner is Laura Fortino, who assisted on the game-winning overtime goal in the gold medal game of the Olympics as Canada defeated the United States to win a fourth straight title.

SEASON OVER FOR UCONN COMMIT
UConn Class of 2016 commit Kyla Irwin's quest for a state title during her junior season came screeching to a half when Altoona's Ali Treglia scored with 3.6 seconds remaining to lift Altoona to a 46-45 win over Irwin's State College team in the Pennsylvania District 6-AAAA title game.

Irwin had 17 points in the game as she scored in double figures in 22 of the 23 games as a junior as she averaged 20 points per game.

Altoona advances to play in the PIAA playoffs.

A program would be fortunate to have one person in the running for honors like the Senior CLASS Award or Academic All-American honors.

UConn happens to have two such candidates.

Senior center Kiah Stokes is not only one of 10 women's basketball finalists for the Senior CLASS Award which recognizes success on the playing field, in the classroom and in the community, but she is leading the fan voting by nearly 10 percent ahead of the nearest competitor.

Stewart, a junior forward and reigning national player of the year, was named a second team Academic All-American earlier today.

"It is a cool accomplishment and it goes to show that not only is my focus on basketball but also I am trying to do as well as I can in the classroom," said Stewart, who has a 3.3 grade-point average in an individualized major titled sport in society.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma pointed out that UConn is the only Division I women's basketball program with more than one player to be named Academic All-American of the Year. While Stewart did not receive that honor, Rebecca Lobo, Jen Rizzotti and two-time winner Maya Moore have been bestowed with that honor.

“People talk about all these other programs were you can go and get a great education, and this, that and the other thing, and I don’t doubt any of that," Auriemma said. "The reality of the situation is we have had three kids be the Academic Student Scholar-Athlete of the year in the country. No other school since they started the award has had more than one. So I think that says something about, 1. The kids that we recruit, what we look for and the things we think are important, and how good our school is at giving these kids an opportunity to be that successful.”

“Can Stewie reach that level? I don’t know. I hope she does. I will be rooting for her. I hope she can.”

Stewart, like Lobo, Rizzotti and Moore brought a similar desire for excellence to their studies as they did to the basketball court.
"I think it is just competitive nature, you want to do as well as you can both on the court and
in the classroom and you want to be the best at whatever you compete at," Stewart said.

With GPAs 3.5 or better in the last two semesters, that number continues to rise as does her desire to use her time at UConn to make a difference.

"What I want am hoping to do is basically prepare myself so I can learn how to build a non-profit organization when I am done with college because I think giving back to your community is awesome," Stewart said. "Next year my senior year I plan on making a non-profit just on a smaller scale so that is probably going to be the hardest part when I have to do that."

Speaking of making a difference, Stokes is certainly doing her part.

UConn did not return to campus from New Orleans after the Tulane game until about 3:30 a.m. on Tuesday. That night she headed to Hartford to speak at a public hearing in front of legislators to address the impact of Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's proposed budget cuts.

"When my advisor asked me to speak, I couldn't say no, it was an honor," Stokes said. "I am glad that they wanted me to talk because I don't just represent the team, I represent the athletic community and the student body. I want to be all of that. The cuts aren't really going to affect me because I am graduating but it is something that is going to impact future players, future students here and it
is something that appealed to me. One of my professors today, he thought was really nice of me. He knew that we got in at 4 in the morning and to do that Tuesday night, that is really crazy a lot of people want to just leave, forget about it and graduate. He was really proud of me and he knows that a lot of the students look up to me, they know I am not just a basketball player I want to help out in more ways."

So what was Stokes' message?

"I just want to tell them I was representing the honors program and the individualized major program," Stokes said. "I wanted to tell them that the funding for both of those programs is really important. The advisors are really flexible, they want everybody to succeed. It is a great thing for the individualized major because you can kind of pick the courses that apply to you. I picked  a lot of business and sport management (classes) because I wanted to do that. I told them that most athletes here are not going to go pro in their sport so you have to have a backup play. It is something I
hope they took away from that."

Auriemma said he was not surprised to hear of Stokes' move to speak in front of legislators nor was he stunned when he checked in with Ellen Tripp, UConn's Associate Athletic Director who is in charge of the Counseling Program for Intercollegiate Athletics, that each of his players who had early morning classes on Tuesday showed up for class.

"She is comfortable in that role," Auriemma said. "That comes natural to her, she is well spoken, she is intelligent, she cares about things more than just basketball and she cares about people. I think when somebody asked her 'would you do this for us?' I am sure there was no hesitation at all.

"She is the absolute epitome of what you would want in a student-athlete, in a kid representing your program. She has everything you want. She is a great human being, she is great teammates, she is a great friend to her friends, she works diligently in school and got a 4.0 (GPA). I don't know if you could ask one person to do more. If somebody said 'hey, Kiah Stokes is the face of your program' I would be like 'yeah, that's pretty good. She kind of represents who we are.'"

Morgan Tuck will get to experience one Senior Day festivity up close and personal when teammates Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Kiah Stokes make that emotional walk out to midcourt to greet UConn coach Geno Auriemma before the Feb. 28 game against Memphis.

However, it is easy to excuse Tuck is some of her thoughts are with another player set to be honored before her final regular-season home game on that day.

Tuck's older sister Taylor has always been something of a role model. She was the person who helped Morgan when she started to get serious about basketball which happened well before she was being sought after by some of the nation's premier programs.

Taylor Tuck is set to be honored in the University of Illinois' final regular-season game against Michigan a couple of hours  before Mosqueda-Lewis and Stokes are recognized in Storrs.

"She is really excited," Morgan Tuck said. "Right now she is trying to figure out what she wants to do after. I think it is hitting her that she only has a couple of months left in college."

Her younger sister won't be able to make it to Taylor Tuck's Senior Day event but her parents will proudly be there to offer support. Considering that the Tucks grew up in Bolingbrook, Illinois, it would figure to be a short trip for David and Lydia Tuck to make it to the University of Illinois on Senior Night. That is not the case.

"My parents moved to Virginia at the beginning of this year," Morgan Tuck said, "My dad got a promotion so they will go back."

Morgan Tuck has mixed feelings about the fact that when she goes home, it will not be to see old friends in her hometown, just about 30 miles outside of Chicago but in a much different place.

"The house is better which is nice but it is kind of weird for me going back to the house," Tuck said. "It is great for my parents, my dad got a promotion and he deserved it. It is something new."

A pair of national award late season lists and to the surprise of absolutely nobody, Breanna Stewart, Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and Moriah Jefferson were among the 30 players named to the Naismith watch list and the 20 on the Wooden Award list. Yet, the player who has more double-digit scoring games this season than any other player failed to make either of the lists. I think anybody who has watched even a few moments of UConn's games this season would feel strongly that there aren't 20 players more deserving of receiving national recognition than redshirt sophomore forward Morgan Tuck.

In last night's win over Tulane, it was a classic Tuck performance as she was the first Husky to hit double digits in scoring as she had 10 points and three rebounds when the Huskies raced out to a 25-4 lead. She finished with 14 points, eight rebounds, two assists, one steal and no turnovers in 21 minutes in the 87-39 win over the third-place team in the American Athletic Conference.

"Morgan may be the most unsung really good player in the country," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said after the game. "I don't know who is paying attention to Morgan when people are talking about our team. I know that Stewie, K (Mosqueda-Lewis) and Moriah they get all the attention. I don't know if anybody is talking about Tuck but for our team, what we need and as well she shoots the ball, passes it, plays defense, rebounds, inside/outside, she is one of those kids that it is like having more than one player when you have somebody like that. For our team, she is perfect. I don't know where she would fit in with the big picture throughout the country but for our team she is perfect and maybe as important if not more important than anybody we've had this year."

Coming off an impressive win over No. 1 South Carolina, it was important for the Huskies to come out with an aggressive mindset. It was Tuck who led the way, contributing the first points of the game on a 3-pointer just 1:15 into the game.

"I don't know if it was the game plan," Tuck said. "I was just trying to be aggressive and my teammates  did a good job of giving me the ball inside, I just go in there and try to finish."

After the game was over Tuck's work wasn't done. Often times Auriemma has his players take over the post-game duties of hanging out prizes to the UConn students who come out to the Huskies home games. Last night it was Tuck's turn.
"I think it is cool that they can possibly get a prize for coming out and showing support, usually there are more students in the men's game but today we had a lot of students so it is great to see our fellow students supporting us," Tuck said.

A few statistical notes from last night's game.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis had three 3-pointers as she moved into 14th place on the NCAA Division I women's basketball career list. She has the highest 3-point percentage of everybody in the top 15. She is also 10th on the Division I single-season list with a 3-point percentage of 51.4 and her career 3-point percentage of 44.9 is 13th on the NCAA Division I list.

Fellow senior Kiah Stokes had two blocked shots as she moved by Stewart and now has the third best single season mark in UConn history. Stokes now has 111 blocked shots and the only marks ahead of are 131 and 122 established by Rebecca Lobo in the 1994-95 and 1993-94 seasons.

Speaking of Stewart, she is now tied with current assistant coach Shea Ralph for 15th on UConn's career scoring list with 1,678 points.

Finally, UConn's opponent failed to attempt a free throw for just the sixth time in program history and first time since an NCAA tournament game against Iowa State on March 28, 2010.

"We try really, really hard to not foul and today both teams tried really hard not to foul," Auriemma said. "My team takes it personally. I have said this 1,000 times since I was 25 years old, there are only two reasons why you foul, one is you are dumb or two you are just not any good. If you have a combination of the two, if you have one or the other, you are salvageable. If you dumb and you are not any good, you foul all the time so to me guys who foul jump shooters, guys who foul with one second left on the shot clock, it is just mindless. I just don't think you can be a good player if you foul."

Earlier this week Kiah Stokes earned special recognition as one of 20 UConn student-athletes to earn a 4.0 grade-point average in either the recently-completed fall semester or in the spring of 2014. Her hard work in the classroom could earn her a national honor.

Stokes was named one of 10 women's basketball finalists for the Senior CLASS Award which recognizes the senior who combines excellence on the court, in the classroom and in the community.

When Stokes was informed about the prestigious honor, she looked at the list of fellow finalists and seeing the impressive list only made the honor all the more precious to her.

The list includes Duke's Elizabeth Williams, Amber Orrange of Stanford and Iowa's Samantha Logic.

She joked that she could request assistance from the Husky faithful to join 2002 winner Sue Bird, 2011 honoree Maya Moore and last year's winner Stefanie Dolson as the UConn players to win the award.

"I told my fans, vote for me," Stokes said with a laugh. "We will see whether that happens, I don't know.

"I can't play basketball forever so whenever that ends, I need to fall back on something. Being nominated for this, I think it shows a lot about me just because I have been working hard in the classroom and with community service, I want to have something to do after basketball."

Stokes came to UConn with a reputation of being a first-rate student and has lived up to the advanced billing. She said her parents emphasized the importance of doing the work in the classroom but it is also something that she has always prided herself on.

"It is definitely about getting real good grades," Stokes said. "When I was in high school I had a math class and it was the only B I ever got in high school. I failed the test and I was heartbroken over it because I knew the material and I didn't do well on the test. School, it is hard work but I like to excel in school."

Stokes needs 15 rebounds to become the 17th UConn player with 750 in her career and is fourth on the career blocked shots list with 287. She needs two more blocks to take over sole possession of the No. 3 spot on the UConn single season list.

Fans can vote until March 23 at www.seniorclassaward.com with the fan voting one portion of the process of selecting the winner.

It was an interesting afternoon at Gampel Pavilion to say the least.

Rarely a media availability session comes and goes without Breanna Stewart being in the middle of providing answers to the question from the enquiring minds without hesitation.

However, the quick give and take that normally results in her meetings with the media (including me) was not the way things took place today. As I would imagine you are aware of, Stewart as well as teammate Morgan Tuck received the early hooks in Saturday's win over Memphis and never returned to the game. The five minutes played by Stewart marked the fewest in her three seasons as a Husky.

I did not go to the Memphis game but did watch it on television before leaving to cover last night's Yale/Dartmouth men's hockey game. There was one time when I heard an assistant coach from UConn (I think it was associate head coach Chris Dailey) yell "run, Stewie" as she lagged well behind her teammates on a fast-break attempt. Stewart kicked it into high gear but it wasn't long until she was sitting on the bench.

Stewart chose her words carefully when the subject turned to the recent stretch of games when UConn was rolling past fellow American Athletic Conference teams with remarkable ease.

"It is hard, in conference play, we are not downplaying our competition and the fact that our (playing time) may be limited, we have to get work done while we are in and be aggressive. We might have taken a different route. I don't know how to word this but I think our message is not that we were looking at teams in a different light compared to other teams, however long we are out on the court we are going to go hard and show that we are the best team in the country for a reason."

Stewart was extremely energetic in today's practice. On more than one occasion she soared into the air with her enormous wing span to knock an offensive rebound to a teammate on the perimeter. She scored in the lane, rebounded, defended and looked every bit the part of the nation's best player.

Coming off back to back games when the Huskies looked sluggish in the early going against Cincinnati and Temple, Auriemma had a short leash when the Huskies traveled to play Memphis.
"The message was sent," Stewart said. "It didn't really feel like anything crazy, we got off to slow starts Morgan (Tuck, also benched for most of the Memphis game) and myself, we are to blame for that, we are leaders of the team and the way we go about our (business) at the start of the game, we are setting the tone for the rest of the game."

Now Stewart gets to face No. 1 South Carolina with the size and athleticism to make things challenging for her to score either in the lane or on the perimeter.

"We are going to go hard and show that we are the best team in the country for a reason," Stewart said. "It is huge for us to come out with energy because we are going to be battling for 40 minutes. It helps that we are going to be playing a home game in front of a sellout crowd, hopefully. We have to be prepared to take their punches, as long as we are always on the attack, they have
to defend us. We have to punch them first, attack them first to show that this is how the game is going to go."

Auriemma claims the move of benching Stewart and Tuck for most of the game and Kiah Stokes for the second half was not about sending a message or punishing his three veterans for their collective lack of energy but merely his way of letting them know that he felt they were underachieving.

Auriemma was told that Stewart said the message was received resulting in a classic response from Auriemma.
"I hope she doesn't put her message in a bottle and I get in three years from now floating in the Long Island sound in my house in Niantic, I hope it is more immediate than that," Auriemma said. "I am not into this message thing. I told them that, I explained it to them yesterday and today, I am not into messages. Look, it is not easy playing here and it is not easy for the wrong reasons. There is no Machiavellian things going on in our office where we are going 'hey, how can we come with up this diabolical plan to make these guys better.' The reason it is not easy to play here is that the bar is set
so high that I think it infects all of us.

"If you are waiting for (South Carolina) or you are waiting for Notre Dame or Stanford, Duke or UCLA or name any of the teams on our schedule that everybody thinks is going to be pretty good then you are less than who you are. I just talk to them and said you want to be great against some of the lesser teams come out in the opening 20 minutes get your triple-double and go 'OK, Gabby (Williams) your turn.' Don't come out and be less than you are. I am not punishing them. Punishing
them would be to make them play. I am not trying to send a message, I am not punishing them. I am saying 'look, if you are going to less than I think you are there is no point in playing.' Nobody in history of academics or athletics has ever gotten less out of their abilities than me from the time I was in 10th grade to today. I hate when I see it in other people and I am going to prevent it to the best of my ability."

Somehow it seemed rather fitting that the only thing standing between Kiah Stokes and becoming the fourth UConn women's player to record a triple-double was a couple of points.

Ripping rebounds and swatting away shots has been something that the senior from Marion, Iowa has been able to do with some amount of regularity since arriving in Storrs. However, she came into Wednesday's game against East Carolina with just 12 double-digit scoring games in 125 appearances as a Husky.

Stokes hit the double-digit mark in blocked shots and rebounds in the same sequence as she deflected a layup attempt by I'Tiana Taylor with 1:47 left to play and two seconds later was credited with her 10th rebound. With 1:05 left to play Stokes missed a layup and then with 33 seconds remaining she scored in the lane off an assist from Briana Pulido. Stokes added a rebound in the closing seconds to finish with 10 points, 11 rebounds and 10 blocked shots in the 87-32 victory.

Stokes has never been one driven by individual accolades but she was being reminded first by Kevin DeMille, UConn's Assistant Director of Women's Basketball Administration, and then by assistant coach Marisa Moseley that she was closing in on history.

First, it was DeMille  who informed that the senior forward/center had seven blocks for the sixth time this season and maybe it was time to swat away a few additional shots. Then late in the game Moseley, who works with the post players, implored Stokes to get the additional basket, rebound and blocked shot to record her first collegiate triple-double while setting a single-game program record with the 10 blocked shots.
"There was like two minutes left and 'Ris (assistant coach Marisa Moseley) was like 'one more block, one more rebound,'" Stokes said. "I was like 'what?' She said 'get a rebound and a block and you have a triple-double.' That was what I tried to do.
"I don't think about it but noticing I get a few (blocks), I said maybe I could get a few more and that is the way I approach it. I know I can block shots, it is one thing I know I can do and to get a triple-double with blocks, I think that is pretty awesome. Words can't really describe it but it is a great feeling and knowing that my teammates had my back and were encouraging me, that is something that is special to me where a lot of teammates might be 'oh, now she is going to get all of the attention' but my teammates were real important and that is the best part about it."
Stokes was there when teammates Stefanie Dolson and Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis joined Laura Lishness as the only Huskies with triple-doubles. Dolson's triple-double particularly inspired her since she worked alongside of Dolson in so many drills in practice and so many game situations in their three seasons at teammates.
"Stef got it with assists and I remember talking to her after and said 'I am going to get mine but with blocks instead,'" Stokes said. "I was just fooling around but now that is really happened, I think it is really awesome. I am excited and I am glad this is happening in January and now we are going to get the ball rolling for February and into March."
The 10 blocked shots moved Stokes into a tie for eighth on UConn's single-season charts and leaves her 39 shy of setting a single-season UConn record which has stood since 1994.
"Kiah is just is in a defensive mindset right now that I think very few players can get to that comfort level," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "They know they can impact any shot they want to impact. I have seen people do that in the past, I don't know if I have seen anybody do that as often as Kiah has done it."

There was a scary moment as UConn junior point guard Moriah Jefferson stayed down under the basket with 11:25 left in the first half. Jefferson received some treatment but was able to return to the game with 9:03 left in the opening half. Jefferson didn't hold back when she was back into the game. Jefferson finished with 11 points for UConn.

Jefferson admitted that her back has bothered her from time to time this season but it is not anything she is too concerned about. She received some treatment and after stretching out her back, she was ready to get back out there.

In her first three seasons at UConn the only time that consistency was used when describing Kiah Stokes usually came in a quote from Hall of Fame coach Geno Auriemma bemoaning the lack of consistent production from the talented forward/center.

However, in at least one area of her game, Stokes is in the midst of one of the most consistent seasons any UConn player has ever enjoyed.

Over the last five games Stokes' blocked shot totals are 7, 6, 7, 7 and 7. The single-game blocked shot totals in the UConn record book stop at 8 so I did some research to find the last time a Husky had at least six blocks in five straight games and found it has happened exactly once by Kiah Stokes.
So where does Stokes' shot-blocking prowess come from?

"I remember my freshman year Marissa (Moseley, UConn's assistant coach who works with the post players) would make up drills to block shots so maybe that has something to do with it but I played volleyball so that has something to do with it, that is my only answer," Stokes said.

During this recent stretch Stokes has blocked some shots with both hands and that is not a coincidence.

"Marissa said a lot of my fouls, I will block the ball up here but my other hand will be on their body so she keeps reminding me to have both hands up and don't push them with our body because they are going to call fouls if you have one hand on them," Stokes said.

Stokes has 80 blocked shots in the first 18 games of the season, one shy of her career high set a season ago and it is the ninth best total in UConn history. With as many as 21 games remaining, Stokes is on pace to shatter the single-season program record of 131 blocks set by Rebecca Lobo during the 1993-94 season. If she were to keep up her current pace and play the maximum of 39 games (if UConn reaches the American Athletic Conference and Division I title games) she would finish with 173 blocked shots which would be the fourth best title in NCAA Division I history trailing only the 223 and 206 recorded by Baylor's Brittney Griner during her freshman and junior seasons and the 195 blocked by Louella Tomlinson of St' Mary's during the 2009-10 season.

As much as Stokes loves blocking shots, you rarely see exuberant reactions from her after she swats away a shot.

"I may not be the most emotional person on the court but it is something I love to do, I love to get all hyped up," Stokes said. "I was taught as a kid to keep a cool head and not get too emotional so that is the one thing that is hard for me it to show excited emotion so I am good as hiding it if I am mad or frustrated but positive emotions, I don't really express  my feelings but I am excited and it is the one thing I know I can do well and I am excited to do it." 

Ironically, the one person who would like to see the blocked shot numbers go down is Auriemma.

"I think the fact why Kiah has so many blocked shtos is that our guards are just so bad at keeping the ball in front of them and it is providing those guys a lot of opportunities," Auriemma said. "I wish they didn't have as many blocked shots because that means there would be less people in there."

Gabby Williams and Kiah Stokes are among
top rebounders for second-ranked UConn

Few duos in UConn women's basketball history were more productive than Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley so it was safe to assume that there would be some rough patches without the two All-Americans.

The feeling was that Hartley's absence would be somewhat easier to deal with especially with the arrival of Canadian national team point guard Kia Nurse but Dolson's graduation was expected to leave a huge hole for the Huskies to deal with.

However, the numbers tell a different story. I looked back at the statistics through 16 games both this season and during the 2013-14 campaign and I found that the Huskies actually have more points in the paint, second-chance points, offensive rebounds and a higher rebound margin than they did a season ago.

"We aren't rebounding differently," UConn junior forward Breanna Stewart said. "We are crashing the boards just as aggressively. People have learned to embrace that even more, myself, Morgan (Tuck), Gabby (Williams), Kiah (Stokes) and even the guards, we want to make sure when the other team shoots it we get the rebound, they get one shot and we get the ball back. Offensively we want to keep it alive as much as we can."

It is on the offensive boards where the Huskies have made the greatest strides.

Last season through 16 games UConn grabbed the offensive rebounds on 39 percent of the missed field goals while this year that number has soared to 44.9 percent. In an attempt to put it into perspective, if the Huskies maintain the current pace it would be the best mark at UConn since the 2008-09 season.

"I think it is a mindset," Stewart said. "We want to be prepared for anything and when we shoot, there are times when I get thinking 'it is going in' if Kaleena, Morgan or somebody shoots it, I am thinking it is going in but to think beyond that and crash the boards even in the ball does go in because they other team is not ready for it."

UConn coach Geno Auriemma isn't quite ready to believe what the numbers might be saying as he continues to push the Huskies to be a more aggressive rebounding team.

"That is one of those cases where I don't know that the numbers tell the whole story," Auriemma said. "It is still something that we always have to work on, I think we are doing a pretty good job on the rebounding end but I don't know it is something we come to practice every day or we get together as coaches and say 'wow, we are a really good rebounding team.' The numbers might say that we are but I don't know. I am still always harping on that."

Stokes leads UConn in both offensive rebounds (36) and total rebounds (128) while Stewart continues to be a regular contributor in the rebounding department but the contributions of a healthy Morgan Tuck and arrival of freshmen Gabby Williams and Nurse have allowed UConn to put up some pretty impressive numbers through the first 16 games.

"We talk about it a lot, people think you can work on rebounding and become a better rebounding team, you can work on boxing out and all that other stuff but the bottom line is one of the best rebounders we have is Gabby," Auriemma said. "It is because the ball goes up, she goes and chases it and you can say all you want about working on it which is fine but once in a while you get a kid that likes to go after the ball. That is probably the easiest way to explain it, she just has that knack for the ball."

The challenging set of final exams were not the only tests that Breanna Stewart was looking to ace during UConn's recent 12-day break between games.

The reigning national player of the year is not one to dwell on individual statistics so she wasn't as upset about her string of four straight games being held under 20 points heading into Friday's game against DePaul as she was somewhat perturbed at the way she was playing.

UConn coach Geno Auriemma saw an immediate difference in Stewart when the Huskies began to practice after the final exam period had come to an end. Stewart was more actively involved in pretty much every possession she was on the court and that translated into a special performance on Friday night.

Stewart had 21 of her season high tying 25 points in the first half and also had eight rebounds, four assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 30 minutes in the Huskies' 98-64 win over a DePaul team which threw major scares into top five teams Texas A&M and Notre Dame.

"I could feel the difference whether it was the focus or something (else)," Stewart said. "I could tell I was more in tune with everything that is gong on. I wanted to be consistently better than I was before
It was a weird feeling."

Nobody has been impacted more by the graduation of All-Americans Stefanie Dolson and Bria Hartley than Stewart. With two fewer scorers on the court it has been easier to throw more bodies at Stewart and she hasn't always dealt with the additional attention and increased physical play.

"It wasn't the same as it was last year," Stewart said. "I felt like I wasn't doing as much as I could have done. Just to have my teammates rely on me and that kind of thing, step up in that position is important. Getting back to how I want to play, like I played tonight, that made me feel good because in the past games that we had I've always found things I could do better, a lot of things. Tonight there are still a lot of things I could do better but the vibe was different."

STOKES FINALLY REACHES HER GOAL
Speaking of people driven to succeed, UConn senior center Kiah Stokes has been so close to attaining a perfect 4.0 grade-point average in her time at UConn. However, an A-minus here or B-plus there kept her from perfection. Until now.

UConn announced earlier today that Stokes had a perfect 4.0 for the fall semester, the first Husky women's basketball player to accomplish the feat since Kelly Faris

"It was definitely a goal and I knew if I put more time into studying," Stokes said. "I could get an A-minus but I really put the effort into getting an A."

Auriemma reacted to the news as only he could.

"I am not surprised , Kiah is a great student," Auriemma said. "We have so many of them on our team. Gabby (Williams) got a 3.6, Kiah Stokes, Kia Nurse, I think they all  - I think there were nine out of the 12 (with GPAs) over 3.0. I am not surprised but she has one of those individualized majors that people take so she just makes (stuff) up. I was talking to her the other day and said 'what kind of major is this?' She is an unbelievable student. She thinks too much on the court but it helps her (in school)."

At the time it seemed like just another game on the schedule, an opportunity to move forward from a disappointing performance.

However, the game against Creighton last month allowed the UConn coaching staff to do a little tinkering.

In the first two games of the season the trio of Breanna Stewart, Morgan Tuck and Kiah Stokes were not on the court at the same time. In the overtime loss to Stanford there were 11 occasions when Tuck was subbed in for Stokes or vice versa. However, with Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis out with the flu the decision was made to start Tuck alongside Stewart and Stokes with rather impressive results. When Mosqueda-Lewis returned, she was obviously going back into the starting five so it was Stokes who was removed from the starting lineup.

Stewart, Stokes and Tuck played together for 12:33 against Creighton with solid but not spectacular results as UConn outscored Creighton 32-22 when they were out on the court together.

With Notre Dame playing without an injured Brianna Turner and UConn struggling defensive, Auriemma decided to go big. Stewart, Stokes and Tuck were put on the court together with 10:08 left in the first half and the Huskies were trailing 28-18. Over the next 5:54 UConn outscored Notre Dame 16-0 and outrebounded the Fighting Irish 12-6. Knowing a good thing when he sees it, Auriemma went back to the post-dominated lineup. He had Stewart, Stokes and Tuck out there with Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis moving to the shooting guard position. Over the next 13:12 the only subs Auriemma made was at point guard as he alternated using Moriah Jefferson and Kia Nurse.

During the 19:06 that UConn had the three posts playing together the Huskies outscored ND 39-18 and held a 28-16 rebounding edge. I think it is safe to say that lineup will be seen again this season.

Speaking of Tuck, I noticed that she was the UConn player who was sent out to meet with the officials and Notre Dame captains before the game. In the post-game press conference Auriemma was asked who was emerging as the team leader and after playfully mentioning his coaching staff, Tuck was the first player he mentioned.

When I asked her about being a leader, Tuck made it clear that it is something that is important to her.

"When I came in as a freshmen, there were people who did that," Tuck said. "I may only be a redshirt sophomore but I have three years here so if I can start doing it now, next year and the year after I can help the freshmen out the way I was helped out as a freshmen."

Tuck was honored for her big game by being named the American Athletic Conference's player of the week.

While I was working on a feature on UConn senior forward/center Kiah Stokes I thought one of the most intriguing comments was made by teammate Breanna Stewart who said she wasn't on the court very often with Stokes last season.

Not that I ever doubt anything Stewart has to say but I decided to do some checking into the matter and the numbers back up what Stewart had to say.

The Boston University game was the only time when Stokes and Stewart were on the court longer than Stewart and Stefanie Dolson were playing together and 30 times during the season Stewart and Dolson had twice as much time on the court as Stewart had with Stokes.

Stokes and Stewart played at least 10 continuous minutes together only once, against Stanford in the national semifinal while Dolson and Stewart accomplished that feat 31 times including playing all 20 minutes in a half on three occasions.

"Even during summer in pickup games we were mostly on opposite teams because of my size which makes it difficult but at practices things are going pretty well for both of us and as long as we continue to do that, I think it will be good," Stokes said.
For those wondering about the total numbers, I had Dolson/Stewart playing together for 1008 minutes and 54 seconds in 40 games, an average of 25.2 minutes per game while Stokes and Stewart shared the court for 364:35 in 39 contests, an average of 9.3 minutes per game.

Kiah Stokes has had her share of impactful moments, especially this season but it is hard to imagine too many times when she had her fingerprints on a bigger game than she did on Sunday night.

UConn found itself down six points in the first half and looked lost against a well-coached Stanford team which was threatening to run away with things.

Then in came Stokes who played a pivotal role in a 12-0 run late in the first half to enable the Huskies to take a four-point lead into halftime.

"Coach really emphasizes that when we come off the bench, we have to make an impact so I know mine is usually on defense," Stokes said. "When I get in there, I know I can rebound and block shots and that kind of thing.

"I think it is a big step for me personally. I know my teammates have a lot more confidence in me and I know they are going to expect that from me."

Stokes checked into the game with 9:15 left in the first half with Stanford up by two. Less than a minute later Erica McCall scored off a sweet assist from Chiney Ogwumike to push the lead to four points. It would go back up to six points before Stokes would hit a free throw, get a steal, make a layup. When she checked out with 25 seconds left in the half, UConn was up by four.

"I think she changed things maybe defensively so they could go big and guard the 3 (small forward) with the bigger person," Chiney Ogwumike said. "I think that changed our vision offensively, harder to get passes inside and your shot up if you're being guarded by (Breanna) Stewart. I think that affected the game."

Ogwumike's opinion was seconded by UConn coach Geno Auriemma.

"When we went with the bigger lineup, we have a few more options defensively," Auriemma said. "It allowed us to move Stewie (Breanna Stewart) onto a shooter and get some length out there. Kiah has been a real good defensive player and a shot blocker. We trust her now; we didn't in the past. But we do and we're not afraid to put her out there in big moments. That's the best game she's ever played, I think, since she came to Connecticut."

Now UConn not only goes for its second straight national title but meet up with fellow undefeated team Notre Dame.

"It is awesome," Stokes said. "We worked really hard this season and I know for me, Kaleena (Mosqueda-Lewis) and Bri (Banks), we really want to do it for  the seniors. Bria and Stef have worked so hard for all four years they have been here. We really want to get it done.

"It will be a great test. They lost (Natalie) Achonwa who is a great post player so they are really going to step it up. It is going to be a great game. It is going to be physical but we have to come ready to play."